Artist: Rattlebone
Album: World’s Gone Crazy
Label: Rattlebone
Release Date: 04.20.2019
For almost 50 years, Southern rock music has thrived, but too often spoken of like a bastard child. Gregg Allman rightly dismissed the tag whenever he heard it applied to The Allman Brothers Band. But, it did hang suitably from the guitars and mic stands of many, some closely associated with the Allmans. Add Rattlebone to the ever-growing list of musicians who still crank their guitars and keys behind steam engine drumming, playing the music graveyard-true to its roots, and singing of everyday subjects as if the Gospel.
Rattlebone boasts two direct links to Southern rock legends in fellow Nashville residents Chris Anderson and Johnny Neel. Singer/guitarist Anderson spent considerable time with Grinderswitch and the Outlaws, and with Warren Haynes, co-wrote “Old Friend,” which appeared on the Brothers’ final album, Hittin’ The Note. Singer/keyboardist Neel was a member of The Allman Brothers Band for their most successful resurrection in 1989. He co-authored four songs for their comeback album, Seven Turns. Anderson and Neel wrote every great song on World’s Gone Crazy. With bassist Dennis Gulley and drummer Daryl Burgess, they shoot consistently, with the high caliber one would expect.
“Don’t Go Down That Road” bursts forth as an anthem of basic advice from a father to a son, and like an old rattletrap train running on nuclear power, ivories sparkling from its undercarriage. Anderson conveys the message powerfully, in an even, soulful voice. They address the obvious in the title song, but with rhythm and blues fire, and an Anderson guitar solo that’s like a bear trap. The sexy and funky “What a Man’s Made Of,” the New Orleans-celebratory “Party in the Street,” and the dreary “Should Have Seen it Coming,” each glow uniquely, but nevertheless flow molten as one. Johnny Neel sings the lead on his own “Innocent,” his only spotlight here, but one that stands out as the album centerpiece. Neel’s voice conveys Gregg Allman grit and Dr. John gris-gris, and the band plays his blues as if pulled from a swamp draped in Spanish moss. Rattling bones with meat and potatoes rock ‘n’ roll is one thing. Rattlebone shakes tasty seasoning all over it, and in the process, shakes a man’s soul to its core.
—Tom Clarke
I followed Chris Anderson in the 90’s when I lived in Sarasota. Pre Old Friend. He was an incredible guitar player back then. He and his fellow musicians that hailed from the area were and still are driving forces in Southern music. Twenty three years later he has become one of premier players in this country. That doesn’t even touch on any of his other great skills. Singer/ Songwriter. All speak for themselves. It’s been too long coming.